More than 20,000 Covid-19 cases confirmed in Latin America

More than 20,000 cases of Covid-19 have been registered in Latin America and the Caribbean to date, according to an AFP tally using information provided by national health authorities and the World Health Organisation.

Authorities had registered 537 deaths and 20,081 cases across the region by 1630 GMT on Wednesday-- double the figure from just five days ago.

Latin America's first case was registered in Brazil on February 26. The South American giant, with a population of 210 million, is now the most affected country with 5,717 cases including 201 deaths.

Ecuador is the second hardest hit with 2,748 and 93 deaths, followed by the Dominican Republic with 1,284 and 57 deaths.

Mandatory containment measures have been put in place in many countries, with strict lockdowns in place in Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Chile, El Salvador and Panama. Borders are shut in almost the entire region.

In Argentina to date, there have been 1,133 confirmed cases and 32 deaths, at the time of writing.